Mortgage lending tumbles to ten year low

Gross mortgage lending last month was the lowest for October in ten years.

It was an estimated £12.4bn, unchanged from September but down 9% from £13.6bn in October 2009, according the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

This is the lowest October total since 2000 when gross mortgage lending was £9.9bn.

Speaking at its Mortgage Industry Conference, CML chairman Matthew Wyles said the year is likely to end on around £137bn gross lending, and £9bn net lending.

Wyles said that in a normal market, gross lending would be between £200bn and £250bn.

He expects there will have been only 160,000 first-time buyers in 2010.

Buying agent James Moss, director of Curzon Investment Property, said: “Without access to finance, buyers cannot purchase homes, and with the situation likely to get worse, there is every chance we could see another fall in house prices.

“The only thing keeping prices stable is the Government’s woeful lack of a coherent housing policy. Instead of pump-priming the market by building more homes, the Coalition is building even less than under Gordon Brown.
 
“Combine this with rising student fees and job losses across the public sector, and what we’re left with is Britain facing up to being a nation of renters as the home-buying dream is eroded by another parliament of botched housing solutions and little access to finance.
 
“Of course, if you’re a buyer lucky enough to have a substantial deposit, the picture is pretty rosy. But the outlook for the vast majority remains grim, particularly while ministers seem unable to get their act together on fixing our housing crisis.”